A report released today by the Minnesota Council on Foundations indicates that grants from foundations and corporations will be flat, or possibly rise 1 percent in 2012.
They’re looking at that as a good thing: some stability in a time of economic uncertainty.
“Grantmaking stability is a huge plus, especially during times of continuing unpredictability elsewhere,” says Bill King, MCF President. “Minnesota philanthropists have been giving well over $1 billion annually for a decade now and have weathered the volatile economy of the past few years with relatively minor fluctuations in their giving.”
The council surveyed 104 state foundations and corporate giving programs in the fall, and learned that 70 percent “anticipate that their funding priorities will remain constant” this year, the council said.
And, “arts, culture, and humanities is the only subject area to which more grantmakers said they expect to decrease rather than increase funding,” the council said, which appears to be consistent with a trend toward less arts funding that the council has seen recently.
